Interview Notes Template, Format and Examples for Hiring

Thursday's debrief has three candidates for one territory rep job. Dana, the sales manager, opens her notes. Candidate one: "great energy." Candidate two: "good fit, strong closer." Candidate three: "solid, maybe?" Nobody in the room can say what any of the three actually said, so the decision goes to whoever the panel remembers best. (Dana is a composite, not a real manager.)

A good interview notes template fixes that. The format is simple: a header, one evidence block per competency (the question, the candidate's words, a follow-up, a rating and the reason), then the candidate's questions, open items and a recommendation written before the debrief.

The template is right below, followed by a full interview notes example for one candidate. Further down: the format part by part, a shorter version for recruiter phone screens, what to leave out, and how to rate and file notes.

This guide covers job interviews. Interviewing a source for a story? Start with our reporter's guide to conducting an interview, and see this interview transcription example for laying out the transcript.

Interview notes template (copy this)

Paste this into a doc, one copy per candidate per interviewer. Pick four to six competencies from the job description before the first interview, and ask every candidate the same main question for each one. Hiring for a sales role? Our sales interview questions give you main questions for each competency.

INTERVIEW NOTES

Candidate:            Role / req #:
Interviewer:          Date and interview stage:
Recorded? (Y/N, consent given on tape at start):

Competencies this round (from the job description):
1.            2.            3.            4.

--- COMPETENCY: [name] -------------------------------------
Question asked:
What they said (their words, short quotes):
  Situation:
  What they did:
  Result (numbers if given):
Follow-up asked, and answer:
Rating (1-5):
Why this rating (point to the evidence above):

[repeat the block for each competency]

--- CANDIDATE QUESTIONS ------------------------------------
What they asked us:

--- OPEN ITEMS --------------------------------------------
Things to verify (references, work sample, license):

--- RECOMMENDATION (written before the debrief) ------------
Advance / Hold / Do not advance
Top two reasons, tied to competencies:

The "their words" line does most of the work. A short quote like "I rebuilt the route so I could see 7 accounts a day instead of 5" beats any adjective you could write.

Interview notes example: full notes on one candidate

Here's the template filled in. The candidate and the numbers are made up for illustration: a composite, interviewing for an outside sales rep job that covers a regional territory.

INTERVIEW NOTES

Candidate: Jordan M.        Role / req #: Territory rep, #114
Interviewer: Dana R.        Date and stage: Thursday, round 2
Recorded? N

Competencies this round (from the job description):
1. Handling objections      2. Territory planning
3. Prospecting              4. Follow-through

--- COMPETENCY: Handling objections ------------------------
Question asked: Tell me about a time a customer pushed back on
price late in a deal. What did you do?

What they said:
  Situation: "Distributor, 3 locations, wanted 12% off at renewal
  because a competitor quoted lower."
  What they did: Asked what the competitor's quote included.
  "Found out it had no install or training." Built a side-by-side
  with the buyer's ops lead, not just purchasing.
  Result: "Kept the account at 3% off, added a service contract."
  Said the contract was worth about $18k a year.
Follow-up asked: What would you do differently?
  Answer: "Bring ops in earlier, before renewal month."
Rating (1-5): 4
Why: Specific, recent example; own actions clear (asked, built
comparison, widened the contact); result with numbers. Not a 5:
one stakeholder move, not a hard multi-party save.

--- COMPETENCY: Territory planning -------------------------
Question asked: Walk me through how you plan a week on the road.

What they said:
  Situation: Took over a 140-account territory when the last rep
  left, with two large accounts already threatening to leave.
  What they did: Ranked accounts by revenue and last visit.
  "I rebuilt the route so I could see 7 accounts a day instead
  of 5." Plans the next day's route the night before.
  Result: Kept both large accounts. Said territory revenue rose
  9% over the next two quarters.
Follow-up asked: Who decided the ranking?
  Answer: "Me. My manager signed off after the first month."
Rating (1-5): 5
Why: Hard situation, clear ownership, measurable result.

--- COMPETENCY: Prospecting --------------------------------
Question asked: How did you find new accounts in your last role?

What they said:
  Situation: "Mostly cold visits when I was already nearby."
  What they did: About 10 cold stops a week.
  Result: Couldn't say how many became customers.
Follow-up asked: Tell me about one account you won that way.
  Answer: One regional contractor; no size or timeline given.
Rating (1-5): 3
Why: Relevant example, but general and no result.

--- COMPETENCY: Follow-through -----------------------------
Question asked: Tell me about a time something you promised a
customer almost slipped.

What they said:
  Situation: Delivery date on a quote was wrong by two weeks.
  What they did: "Called before they noticed," got a partial
  shipment from another branch, logged the change in the CRM.
  Result: Customer kept the order.
Follow-up asked: How did you stop it happening again?
  Answer: Now checks stock with the branch before quoting.
Rating (1-5): 4
Why: Specific example, own actions clear, clear result.

--- CANDIDATE QUESTIONS ------------------------------------
What they asked us: How is the territory split with inside
sales? What does a good first 90 days look like?

--- OPEN ITEMS --------------------------------------------
Things to verify: 9% revenue figure and the renewal story, with
a reference. Driver's license (required for every candidate).

--- RECOMMENDATION (written before the debrief) ------------
Advance
Top two reasons: strongest objection-handling evidence (4) and
territory planning (5). Probe prospecting in the final round.

Notice what's missing. There's nothing about the candidate's handshake, age, accent or "vibe." Every line is about the job: what the customer asked for, what the candidate did, and what happened.

Dana's "strong closer" might describe the same person, but only this version can be compared with the other two candidates on Thursday.

A shorter example for a non-sales role

The format works for any job. Here's one block for an office coordinator role, again a made-up composite. It shows what a 3 looks like.

--- COMPETENCY: Managing competing priorities --------------
Question asked: Tell me about a day when two urgent requests
landed at once. What did you do?

What they said:
  Situation: "Payroll deadline and a broken card reader at the
  front desk, same morning."
  What they did: "I just worked through it, I'm good under
  pressure." Handled payroll first.
  Result: Payroll went out on time. Didn't say what happened
  with the card reader.
Follow-up asked: How did you decide which came first?
  Answer: "Payroll has a hard deadline."
Rating (1-5): 3
Why: Relevant example and sound reasoning, but light on what
they did and only half a result.

Interview notes format: what goes where

Interview notes work best as short labeled sections, in the same order for every candidate, so you can lay two sets side by side and compare them line by line.

Write short phrases and quotes rather than paragraphs. An interview notes form uses the same fields, whether it's a printed sheet, a shared doc or the feedback form in your applicant tracking system. What matters is that every interviewer fills in the same fields, on their own copy.

How to use the 1 to 5 rating scale

OPM recommends one rating range for every competency, with at least three levels labelled. Here's a simple set of anchors to start from. Rewrite the anchors for each competency before interviews start, so every interviewer scores against the same picture. To weight the competencies and compare candidates side by side, the free Interview Scorecard Template adds up the ratings for you.

If you can't point to a line in your notes, you can't give the score. That one rule removes most "gut feel" ratings.

A short interview notes template for recruiter phone screens

Agency and in-house recruiters run a lot of 20-minute screens, often straight after the hiring manager's intake call (the same prep-and-recap habits from our client meeting guide apply there). A full scorecard is overkill. Use this shorter version and keep it just as job-related.

PHONE SCREEN NOTES

Candidate:          Role / req #:        Date:
Source:             Recruiter:

Must-haves from the intake (Y / N / Unclear, with the evidence):
1. [e.g. 2+ years field sales]:
2. [e.g. valid driver's license, territory travel]:
3. [e.g. B2B quota experience]:

Why this role, in their words:
Current role and one result they're proud of (quote):
Pay expectations and notice period (as stated):
Work authorization (ask the same question of everyone):
Their questions:

Next step: Submit to hiring manager / Hold / Decline
Reason, tied to a must-have:

Priya, a composite agency recruiter, screens eight candidates a day for sales roles. She used to send "great communicator, 8/10." Now she sends the three must-haves with a quote under each, and managers read her submittals without calling her first. Here's a made-up sample of what she sends:

PHONE SCREEN NOTES

Candidate: Sam T.     Role / req #: Field sales rep, #207
Date: Tuesday         Source: Referral     Recruiter: Priya

Must-haves from the intake:
1. 2+ years field sales: Y. "Four years selling HVAC parts to
   contractors, on the road most days."
2. Valid driver's license, territory travel: Y. Has a license;
   said yes to the two overnight trips a month.
3. B2B quota experience: Y. "$1.2M a year. Hit it two of the
   last three years."

Why this role: "I want a bigger territory and a product I can
demo on site."
Current role and one result: HVAC parts rep. "Won back a
contractor group we'd lost to a competitor."
Pay expectations and notice period: Expects $70-80k base; two
weeks' notice.
Work authorization: Yes (same question asked of everyone).
Their questions: Who covers the accounts during ramp-up?

Next step: Submit to hiring manager
Reason: Meets all three must-haves, with evidence for each.

One caution: rules on asking about current or past pay vary by state and city, so check your local rules before keeping that line, and ask about expectations rather than salary history where history questions are banned.

What interview notes are for, and how long to keep them

Interview notes have two jobs. They help you remember what each candidate said, and they show why you rated each candidate the way you did.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management's Structured Interview Guide puts it plainly: "Taking regular and detailed notes of observable behaviors and verbal responses during each interview is crucial." It adds that notes should "serve as documentation to support the employment decision," and that ratings "should be defensible and supported by the notes."

Structure pays off. A 2022 meta-analysis by Sackett, Zhang, Berry and Lievens in the Journal of Applied Psychology found structured interviews were the strongest predictor of job performance among the selection methods it reviewed, with a mean operational validity of .42 (SIOP summary). Structure means the same questions, the same scale and written evidence for every candidate, which is what a good interview notes template enforces.

Notes are also records, so write every note as if someone outside the room might read it one day. How long you keep them depends on who you are and where you hire:

• Federal baseline: under the EEOC's recordkeeping rule, 29 CFR 1602.14, employers covered by it keep employment records, including those about hiring, for one year from the date the record was made or the decision was taken, whichever is later. If a discrimination charge is filed, relevant records stay until the matter is finally resolved. The EEOC sums up the rule here.
• Federal contractors: the Section 503 rule at 41 CFR 60-741.80 names interview notes among the records to keep, generally for two years, or one year for contractors with fewer than 150 employees or no contract of at least $150,000.
• States: some go further. California Government Code 12946 sets a four-year minimum for covered employers.

This is general information, not legal advice. These rules change, so ask HR or an employment lawyer what applies to you. A recording or transcript used in hiring may count as a hiring record too, so ask about those as well.

What to write, and what to leave out

The EEOC lists the protected bases: race, color, religion, sex (including transgender status, sexual orientation and pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability and genetic information. It says employers should limit pre-employment questions to what is "essential for determining if a person is qualified for the job," and it bars disability questions before a job offer.

Notes can cause trouble even when your questions were fine, because candidates volunteer things: a new baby, a religious holiday, a medical appointment. Don't write it down or let it into the rating. Here's how to turn common bad notes into job-related evidence:

The EEOC also warns that questions about marital status and the number and ages of children "are frequently used to discriminate against women and may violate Title VII if used to deny or limit employment opportunities," and it lists childcare arrangements among the questions that may be seen as evidence of intent to discriminate. If travel or hours matter, describe the job's schedule and ask whether the candidate can meet it. Ask everyone the same way, and note the answer.

Two situations need more than leaving it out:

• A candidate asks for an accommodation. Don't ignore it. Pass the request to HR, and keep it out of your rating. The EEOC's guidance on disability-related questions says medical information on applicants must be kept confidential, on separate forms and in separate medical files.
• Something you shouldn't have written is already in your notes. Don't quietly delete or rewrite it, because the notes may be records you have to keep. Tell HR, and make sure it plays no part in the decision.

This is general information, not legal advice. State and city laws can go further than federal law, and they change, so check with your HR team or an employment lawyer for your location.

Taking notes during an interview without losing the conversation

Writing while someone talks is hard: your eyes are on the page and you miss the follow-up question. A few habits help:

• Write short quotes, not paragraphs. Five words in their voice ("rebuilt the route, 7 a day") are enough to jog your memory.
• Mark numbers and names. Circle any metric, customer type or tool they mention; those are what you'll compare later.
• Leave the rating blank until the end. Scoring while they talk pulls your attention to the score, not the answer.
• Tell the candidate you'll take notes. OPM's guide recommends saying so at the start, and it keeps pauses from feeling awkward.
• Finish the write-up the same day. Fill the gaps within the hour if you can, while you still remember the answer behind each quote. If typing is slow, speak your write-up into the free online dictation tool and paste the text into the template.

Recording the interview instead

Recording lets you stay in the conversation and pull exact quotes later. It raises two questions: consent, and how the recording is used.

On consent, federal law (18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(d)) allows recording when one party consents, but the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press lists about 11 states that primarily require everyone's consent, including California, Florida, Illinois and Pennsylvania. The habit that works everywhere: ask at the start and get the yes on the recording. Our guide to recording an interview on your phone covers phone placement and the consent script.

On use, keep the decision human. If software scores or ranks candidates, some places regulate it: New York City's Local Law 144 requires a bias audit and candidate notice for automated employment decision tools. A transcript and a summary are memory aids. The ratings still come from you, against your anchors.

Marcus, a composite hiring manager for a building-supply distributor, runs in-person panel interviews in a conference room. Once the candidate agrees, he sets his phone on the table with ParrotNotes recording and listens. Afterwards he has a transcript and an AI summary of the conversation. On Pro, speaker ID helps him tell his colleague's questions from the candidate's answers, and he can ask the AI chat "what did she say about her quota last year?" He checks the line in the transcript, copies it into the template, and then scores it himself. If you're hiring a sales manager, our list of sales manager interview questions gives you questions to start from.

Want the quotes without the frantic typing? Download ParrotNotes free. Every recording gets an AI summary on the Free plan, and it works on iPhone, Android and Mac. If you need a clean transcript for a panel, see how to transcribe an interview.

After the interview: rate first, then debrief, then file

The order matters more than most teams think.

1. Rate alone. OPM's guide has each panel member review their notes and rate "without discussion with other panel members." Early opinions in a group chat anchor everyone else.
2. Debrief on evidence. Go competency by competency. When ratings differ by two points or more, each person reads their evidence aloud. Usually one person heard something the other missed.
3. Write the decision down. One or two sentences, tied to competencies: "Advance: strongest objection-handling evidence (4) and territory planning (5)."
4. File the notes. Keep them with the requisition for as long as the rules that apply to you require: at least the one year in 29 CFR 1602.14 for covered employers. If a discrimination charge is filed, keep every relevant record until the matter is finally resolved.

For the debrief itself, the agenda-and-action-items format in our meeting notes template works well.

Conclusion

A good interview notes template turns "great energy" into evidence you can compare. The core habits:

• Pick four to six competencies from the job description and ask everyone the same questions
• Write the candidate's words, not your adjectives
• Score against anchors, and only with evidence you can point to
• Leave anything non-job-related out of your notes
• Rate alone before the debrief, then keep the notes for as long as the rules that apply to you require

Copy the template above into your next interview kit, and share the phone-screen version with your recruiters so submittals arrive with evidence attached.